EPA Awards $500,000 Grant for Sewage Collection System to Serve Union and Chapman Townships PORT TREVORTON, Pa. -- A $500,000 construction grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be used to construct a sewage collection system for Union and Chapman Townships in Snyder County, Pennsylvania.

The collection system is needed because many residential and commercial properties in the area have failing on-lot septic tanks that discharge untreated wastewater into drainage ditches and small streams several hundred yards from the Susquehanna River. The untreated wastewater poses a threat of bacterial contamination to area residents and downstream surface and groundwater users.

The proposed collection system will service about 540 people in Port Trevorton, Kellertown, Chapman and Independence. It will convey wastewater to a new treatment plant that is planned in the area.

Construction of the sewage collection system is scheduled to begin in March, 2000. The grant, awarded to the Union-Chapman Regional Authority, will pay for 55 percent of the sewage collection project.

"The first line of defense for public health is safe, clean water," said W. Michael McCabe, the regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region. "This grant is an important step in improving and maintaining public health and water quality for the residents of Union and Chapman Townships."